Patriot's Day weekend in North Texas didn't disappoint, the brave souls came out to experience all four seasons this weekend. Saturday morning was cold and rainy, in the low 40s, the rain stopped and the wind started to blow. Sunday morning was chilly, but it warmed up nicely to the low 60s. All this after we almost had triple digits at the KD in March.....
This turned out to be one of the best groups of shooters I've had the privilege to have on the line right from the get-go, as the first hits count demonstrated. Almost the entire class cleared the 100 and 200 yard targets! The class was evenly split between first time attendees and folks who had continued their practice and had returned for some more.
Patriot's day weekend is an extra special time at Project Appleseed. There has been focus on a particular patriot and their contributions to the cause of liberty, this year was no different. A special shirt and patch, and a history presentation. Across the nation, we simultaneously fire the Memorial Volley, to commemorate the sacrifices made by those who fought for our liberty that day 251 years ago. On top of all of that, one of our volunteers, Monocog Mike, was working on the final exam for his Red Hat.
Saturday was off to a running start, students were instructed on sling usage, the process for firing their shots, NPOA, and steady hold factors for the prone position. After some dry practice and positional exercise, it was time to put it all together and shoot some groups. Some outstanding groups were fired, some coaching on technique was made, more groups fired, and the groups tightened up further. From there, the students were taught how to calculate the adjustments needed to make point of aim equal point of impact. Subsequent adjustments were made and groups fired.
Lunch was on us rapidly, and the typical working lunch was had. Monocog Mike and LittleMissE presented strikes, and then everyone was ready to get back on the line. The class then learned about the seated and standing positions, and some practice ensued. The hits count target was fired, improvement over the morning was demonstrated. The class was dismissed for some hot chow and rest.
Sunday morning began with review, and then the first shots of the day commenced at the hits count target. The day kicked off with 4 students clearing the target! The shoot boss gave the option of additional practice or doing it for real, the class overwhelmingly voted to fire an AQT. We had some very solid scores on the first AQT. Then the class did some drills followed by an additional AQT. The second AQT gave us the first Rifleman scores of the weekend, and a bunch that were closing in on 210.
Lunch time was upon the class before we knew it, where we heard the Prince Eastabrook history along with presentation of the commemorative patches. As all the new material had been presented for the weekend, it had been determined that final exam had been successfully completed, Monocog Mike was presented with his Red Hat. As is the tradition here at Project Appleseed, Mike's Orange Hat was retired with help from the class.
After the retirement ceremony, the class was interested in more chances at earning a patch. More good scores were fired, more new patches were earned, a rifleman requalified. Another AQT was fired and further progress was made by the class.
At 3 pm the class took part in the Memorial Volley, and those interested were presented with the Bloody Butchery bill.
A final AQT was fired, and Caleb (this was his first time at a Project Appleseed event, but obviously not his first time behind his rifle) shot a Distinguished score! Hats off to him, that at the end of a long weekend, giving it his all. The last hits count of the weekend was fired, and progress across the board was demonstrated.
Thank you to all the participants, first and foremost you followed the safety rules, and you were diligent in putting into action the material you were taught. This Shoot Boss was impressed at the effort put in by the class (especially by those sporting as much grey in their beards as I have).
Every Project Appleseed event starts off with three things, the 4 safety rules, 6 steps to a safe rifle, and common ammunition malfunctions. While misfires aren't terribly uncommon with rimfire rifles (though we had almost none this weekend), we encountered something I've not seen in a long while: a squib. Ethan, fired a shot, and immediately raised his hand, as he knew something was amiss. The shoot boss retrieved a cleaning rod, and about 4 inches from the muzzle, there was an obstruction. Ethan's attentiveness kept anything further bad from happening, injury to himself or the shooters next to him, and no damage to his dad's rifle. Nice job Ethan!
Great write-up, Scott!
It was a great weekend and amazing group of shooters - didn't they run you out of Rifleman patches?
I ran out of the last of the full color patches I had, I'm still working on tracking down 2 for folks.